Mahathir admits action was wrong – Bumburing

KOTA KINABALU: There is a need to review all the Malaysian identity cards which were issued without going through the necessary process, Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS) president Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred M Bumburing said.

He said that this was because of the evidence and facts revealed through the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants in Sabah hearing which was held last week.

“The federal government is duty-bound to review all the ICs given illegally to prove that former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had acted according to the law.

“By saying that Tunku Abdul Rahman had acted worse than him in granting citizenship to foreigners is an admission on the part of Mahathir that his action was wrong,” Bumburing said.

He was also of the opinion that Mahathir had erred in his analogy because the granting of citizenship to migrant population at the time of independence was the agreement between the various races then.

“Mahathir forgot that his father was also a beneficiary to the agreement. Mahathir should be brought to a constitutional trial for his grievous misdeed to the people and country,” the Tuaran MP said.

“In relation to this, I would like to ask Datuk Salleh Said Keruak as to why he did not challenge Mahathir to appear before the Royal Commission of Inquiry after the latter’s admission to his part in issuing ICs to illegal immigrants in Sabah.

“By not doing so I dare to say that he condones all what Mahathir had done to the great injury to the people of Sabah. I also would like to ask Datuk Salleh what he had done during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Sabah to solve the illegal immigrant problem,” Bumburing said.

He claimed that the magnitude of the illegal immigrant problem in Sabah is a result of the well-planned programme by the Barisan Nasional government since the day Mahathir took power.

The problem had been raised by the people of Sabah since the 80s but the Federal government had taken a hard line denial, he alleged.

Bumburing asserted that the setting-up of the RCI by the government was done reluctantly as it was forced to succumb to mounting pressure and Mahathir was forced to eventually admit that he was indeed responsible for the issuance of ICs to the illegal immigrants in Sabah.

Mahathir stand accused of not only committing an act of betrayal to the people of Sabah but committed treason to the people and country for failing to protect the sovereignty of Sabah within Malaysia selling citizenship to foreigners, he claimed.

“When his great misdeed had eventually been exposed he scrambled for excuses and justification for his hideous act.

“He has the gut to say that his action is justified by saying that he acted according to the law.

“Now that Datuk Seri Anwar (Ibrahim) has declared that he is ready to appear before the RCI, I would like to challenge Salleh… to appear before the RCI to give testimony.